Percussion-fuse.



UNITED sTATEs 'KENNET JOHN GIRDWOOD, 0]?l MGNTREAL. QUEBI '10, CANADA.

PERCUSSION-FUSE.

Be it known that I, Kicxni-:T J'onN Ginnwoon', a subject of the King ofGreat Britain` and-a citizen of Montreal, in the Ii'oi'iuee ol" iQuebec', Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new ,and usefullniproveinents in Percussion-F1lses, of wliirh the .FollowingI is aspeclicat-ion.

My inventionrelates-to fuses adapted to he inserted into the poiutsofhigh explosive shells to he shot from a Cannon, and one ol theinuiirobjerts thereof sf'to provide such fnseswhieh will' cause theshells to explode their .flightif y, Y

' Mfnrtherohjeet is to provide a graze and percussion fuse of simpledesign wherein if they gra-ze an ohjeet enough to slizelithT retardtheir Hight, as well asV when the shells strike the ground or an ohjeetfairly to stop special attention is given to the concentricity of theparts to sin'ipliiy the'balancing and V manufacture.

A further object is to provide sueh a fuse Whieh is normally lockedagainst .accidental actuation to explode the shell and whichlockingineans are released by centrifugal force due to the rotation of.the shell after being'd'scharged froni a cannon, after which the Saidlocking means are rendered inopera- 80 tive. forja reason to be laterexplained.

A- further Objectis to provide a plungerprovided with a needle point andwith passages leading rearwardly tlierefromto allow' the flash from thedetonator to pass to thechargein ,the shell.' p n lMyinvention is fullydescribed 1n the following'specifieation, of which the accom- `panyingdrawings forni .a part,` in which ike `characters refer to like parts ineach Figure 11is 'afragmentary eleyation of a, shell provided ywith niyinventiont partly 4, in central longitudinal section, with the,threaded-at 5fr engagement with a. shel 6, 'saidreannd hayingfaninternally'threadf ed recess 7 for a ga1nen8, an internallythreadedrecessor a plnngerlock 10 providedl withafmagazine 11, aJplunger cham- Specicaton' of Letters Iatent. Application tiled August30, 1916. Serial 110.117,( 40.

Pau-nim nay 1, 19.1 7." i

ed to enter the detonator ll 'and having pas` 654 sages 1T leadinglrearwardly from Said i' i needle point to an ixial passage 18 forleading the llash of thil detonator'rearwardly to the charge ot' theshell, said plunger having l two longitiulinalllt` arranged grooves" 19in 70 its outer surface, diainetrieally arranged` and with au inteinallythreadegbreciss 20 lohe used in the a -son1liling of ie -parts of thefuse with a 's 'l'ireial tool not illustrated, l the plunger being keptfioin ele'eping for- -75 wardly by means o t', alight spring 21. Thefuse body 4 'isfiirovided with two dianietrieally and rac iallirVarranged chambers 22 for the leeeptioi nd yint'i'vement of plungerloekinlg bolts 'orinally held in 80v locking positions hy means"fsprings 24 and sri-ew threaded pligs 25, said bolts"liariligg, eac-h,a. spherical head QGQQiinbalan'ced by being rut away at one side-andareduced 'cylindrical in'eiiihei' 2T norn'ijally held in a 85 ishould-fall upon its` @1i-nt, but these springs .95

24 do not possess si cient strength to' resist the outward bolt movementhy cent1-ifi] ril force in the rotation ofthe shell after ischarge fromthe cannon.' I

Upon such disch ir e, the bolts 23' move 100 outwardly by centri ugalforce free' frniA the cylindrical paisages 28 andirito'tHe chambers 22whei e, also by centrifugal -force, the heavier side of the bolts isdrawnl oiwrdly more thanI the 105 lighter side and thi is' causes"l the'bolts-"totip toward the heavier i iide and lock themselves,

no matter in what position the' j be' laced in the chambers y 22, thespherica heef s ermitti 'this increment, and no obsta'ee isllO theres'.ter presented t0 the forward' m'ovei 'm'ent of the'plun-geii 15 otherthan thereintively light springZl whose 'only function is to prevent theplunger from creeping to ward thc dctoiator during the ilight of theleaving the cannon, although there is no possibility ol' exploding thtIshell during the handling' thereof.

1f, i't any reason, the centrifugal action yon the`bolts 2:5 should beprevented, the cylindrical portions` T thereol' would be shear'ed 'oil'by the weight of the plunger 15 upon thel impart ol' thc shell with anobject or with the ground al'tcr having been lired from a cannon, saidportions :2 being made of such a relativo diameter and of such materialas to.ins|1re such shearing under these conditions.

My fuse is very simple in construction andis perfectlybalanced withrespect to itsaxis, there are no indirect passages for the` detonatorflash toward the charge in the shell, there Isno possibility ofreloeking the plunger after it has been once-un` locked `as the bolts:23 are of sufiicient welght to insin'e their outward movement againstvl the springs 24 1n the shell rotation during flight, and vthere is nopossibility of unscrewing the separable partsdurmg the flight ofa shellbecause of the reverse screw threads, Y. A

WhileI I have shown a preferred embodiment of my fuse, I do not desireto limit myself to the exact details as many changes thereover mightsuggest themselves and still be within th'e 'spirit of the invention andthc scope ot' the appended claims.

Haring fully described my invention, what l claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A percussion fuse, con'iprising a body having means for connectionwith an explo- .sive shell, a detonator, a plunger, radially arrangedbolts consisting of cylindrical members arranged in radial passages insaid body and spherical heads arrangedv in enlarged radial chambers insaid body, anal springs tot' normally n'iaintaining said cylindricalbolt members in engagement with said plunger toprevent moven'ient of thelatter toward .said detonator, one side of each ot' said heads being cntaw: to destroy the balanceJ thereof, said' cylintlyical members beingladapted to be \\'itl'ldrawi\. from said passages by centrifugal forceand said heads being turned with their heavier Sides outwardly of said`fuse by centrifugal force to move the axes vof said cylindrical membersont of the 'axes of said passages to revent the entry oi'saidcylindrical mein ers into said passages after having 'been drawn ont ofthe saine by centrifugal force.

2. As an article of manufacture, for use in a percussion fuse, a plungerlocking bolt consisting of a cylindrical member and an enlarged4spherical head cut awa at .one

side to destroy the. balance thereo KENNET JOHN GIRDWOOD.

Witnesses:

' M. P. SCHANTZ,

H. A. SCHAN'N

